REAL-TIME WALL

Current location: Alberta, Canada

Welcome to our Real Time Wall. This is a collection of our main social media channels so you can see currently where we are and what we are up to. Come and share the adventure with us as we report live from the road!

ALSO, check out our behind-the-scenes posts, which are a little more spur of the moment than our full travel stories (and a little more personal).

A big highlight of this recent trip was a workshop at the Carter-Ryan Gallery & Live Art Venue in Banff.

Jason Carter describes himself as an Indigenous pop artist with many talents as a sculptor, painter, and illustrator. His gallery doors are open to teaching others, and under his tutelage our tour group attempted soapstone sculptures.

An artist, I am not! But it was a lot of fun, especially to engage with such a stunning artist, surrounded by his exceptional work inspired by our province.

Many outsiders don't realize that Alberta spends the majority of its days in pure sunshine. Yes, even in winter! And it is perfect days like these (while Pete was snowshoeing with White Mountain Adventures) that make the harsher days much easier to take. ☀️ ... See MoreSee Less

A substantial part of my tour through southern Alberta has been anchored in Indigenous tourism, and our visit to Painted Warriors near Sundre focused on sustenance hunting and living off the land. I am, as other tour participants pointed out, perhaps weirdly obsessed with building skills that would be useful in an apocalyptic future. So this was right up my alley!

However, Katniss Everdeen, I am not. The animals are safe from me for the time being. (I’ll stick to targets and plastic props.)

Our big trip to Catalonia is less than a couple of months away, and one of the things we are very much looking forward to is a return to the stellar gin culture.

But then I was introduced to the Eau Claire Distillery, just a couple of hours from our home in Alberta, AND home to the second best gin in the world.

!!!!

I mean, of course going to Spain is still a necessary trip (at the very least for the ham) but DAMN, what a treat to have this so close to home. The stories from this distillery are as incredible as the spirits themselves: It is housed in a former brothel and theater! The barley is harvested using horses and refurbished machinery from the 1920s! I will be bringing Pete back here as soon as possible.

As the lead-up to a conference in Banff in a few days, Pete and I have been sent to different corners of the province to explore. I am hanging around in the south while he flew up to Fort McMurray.

I had planned on saving you from the usual whining that happens when Pete and I get separated, but then this incredible display of northern lights happened. While I am sad to have missed the show itself, I am MORE sad that I had to miss Pete’s enjoyment of it. I grew up in northern Alberta and so have seen this many times before, but Pete has been chasing the lights for years, waiting to see a SPECTACULAR show just like this! I am so happy he saw the aurora dance, but I do wish I had been there to watch him enjoy it. ❤️

During our recent trip to the Yukon, we were given a couple of aurora buffs and thought that it would be a PERFECT opportunity to do a wee giveaway!

You can win one here by commenting below on what your favourite winter activity is (hiding indoors is a viable option, but not recommended 😉). Leave the comment by tomorrow (Sunday) at 9am EST and you may be chosen randomly to receive the buff!

Watching the northern lights covering the starriest sky with the biggest full moon in northern Finland last weekend. A truly magical experience indeed. Even if it was -30 degrees 😂

We live in Florida and my British husband's favorite winter activity is watching Premier League soccer being played in all kinds of weather while he's basking in glorious Florida sunshine. My favorite activity is seeing him so happy at 80 years old. I'm sure the weather here has played a large part in why he's still going strong.

We love to ski and snowboard. B is getting good on the mountain too now we’re just waiting for Connor to try and then we’ll be a full skiing family

My sister and I love hiking in the winter! And taking lots of pictures of course! I still want to try snowshoeing too!

Doing this as well as cross country skiing and skating!! Up until last week we didn't have enough snow to do anything but skate so was so happy to finally be able to get out the snow shoes yesterday!!

Racing down a powdery slope on my skies on a clear and sunny day - hopefully in the Rocky Mountains in Canada next winter season 🤗

Cross Country Skiing with my family! Best way to laugh at yourself (when you fall) and laugh together while enjoying winter! ❤️

Walking at night during a snowfall, and Christmas Eve in Faro (when I lived in the Yukon) toasting the wonders of a northern lights show at full blast, with our local wolf pack singing. Mother Nature's light and sound show us humans cannot equal. Heaven. 👌😊

The best winter thing I've ever done was snowmobiling on the Berant Sea and looking at the beautiful soft twilight colours in the sky. I'm now back home in NZ loving the summer!

Living in the Boston area I particularly enjoy shoveling... it's an adventure every time... light snow. heavy wet snow, slushy snow, cornstarch on top heavy wet on the bottom, ice topped snow and of course I can't forget the March snow that just won't go away. 🤣🌨️❄️☃️

skating at an outdoor park in stony. they have Xmas lights on all the trees and whatnot....so pretty!

Snowshoes in the woods. Listening to the silence and the few courageous birds still around :)

I haven't done it in awhile, but I like snowshoeing. My most common winter activity in Denver lately has been going to the zoo. :-)

Snowshoeing! And taking my dog to the dog park. Even though she's from Mexico, she loves playing in the snow. She cracks me up!

Cross country skiing...maybe in the Yukon one day 😉

Heading to Hawaii!!!! (I'm sick of winter)

Winter walks! With a bluebird sky, able to see your breath, the snow sparkling, the crisp crunch under your boots... love it.

Snow shoeing in the beautiful Ottawa Valley in Ontario while watching the deer nibble on the cedars☺️

I like to spend my winters anywhere where there’s a good fire, strong coffee and great friends.

Heading to the Southern Hemisphere 😂 no seriously I love walking in the snow ❄️ and taking photographs

We'll never forget the first time we drove on the "other" side of the road in Ireland. Cue mild panic and much practicing in a parking lot before venturing out. Good thing, at the very least, that we both knew how to drive a standard car as that is predominately what you will find overseas!

Thanks for the tips! - though I'm a pretty good driver, I'm petrified to drive overseas -(I'm not even fond of standard shift) I'm at the mercy of public transport at all times - I really need to build a bridge and get over that. :-)

My first time driving in NZ I made sure to rent the car in a rural area. The guy said "You'll be fine until you've been out for an hour and stop for a coffee. Then you'll forget when you get back in the car." And he was correct.Fortunately, no accident ensued and I got the hang of it. Now it's only a 5-minute adjustment period and I'm back in the "drive on the wrong side of the road" mode. Coming home to my own car is occasionally problematic, though. Especially if I'm super tired.I hate the roundabout coming out of the Perth airport, though. The whole clockwise vs counterclockwise roundabout thing is a little much when you've just come off of a plane!! :)

I've been thinking that perhaps I should take some motorbike lessons this summer. At this point, I'm thinking a motorbike makes the most sense for me to get around Chiang Mai (or similar place), if I decide to stay there for awhile.

I appreciate this post. While I did brave the "other side" in the Bahamas, I couldn't quite face the traffic in Dublin on my own.....maybe next trip <3

So glad you did the practice. The number of road deaths we have on New Zealand roads from tourists driving on the wrong side is awful. There is even talk that overseas drivers hiring a car should have a driving test before being allowed on the road. Stay safe!

Lol I feel the same on the ‘wrong side of the road!’ In Australia you will find mainly automatic cars which took us some adjusting too when we moved from the UK!

"Visa-wise, nomads generally have few choices to enjoy this location-fluid lifestyle completely legally—unless they want to wade into a lot of admin. A common modus operandi for some nomads is to arrive at a low-cost nomad hot spot like Ubud, Bali or Barcelona, Spain, enter on a tourist visa (or, for Europeans in Europe, the freedom of movement principle), and go about doing work that exists solely online. Generally, they do not officially register as a resident because they do not plan to stay long-term. When their visa is up, they can either move on, or leave the country and re-enter on a new visa. Hindriks says this way of operating “is not their fault—there’s no policy that supports a legal way to do it.”"

Enter ESTONIA - poised to be the first country to offer a "digital nomad visa"! We think this is a BRILLIANT move on their behalf. ... See MoreSee Less

Since a few of you have asked about clothing during our winter travel pursuits, I share this post from This Battered Suitcase! (We don't write "what to wear" posts so I am glad Brenna does. Also, she is much more stylish than us so you really should take her advice anyway. 😂) ... See MoreSee Less

Funny post. I liked it but can’t imagine packing three coats! Oh my. You’d need two suitcases just so you could take the coats. My suggestion, re scarves, would be to take an infinity scarf over a regular one with loose ends or just a neck warmer. A loose scarf, when skiing or snowmobiling can get caught on things. Not ideal. And not all Canadians wear Sorels all winter. Yes when doing long outside activities but I just wear nice (thinsulate) insulated knee high leather look boots most of the year. Waterproof and warm.

Great article....planning on a couple months in Switzerland next winter and since I live in Hawaii, having an idea of what I might need will give me a "shopping list" to work on all year <3

One of the big highlights of our visit to the Yukon was attending the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Festival. We only got to see a small slice of this massive event, but we had SO much fun!

And this little video is just the family-friendly version of some of what goes on there. 😉 Trust us, if we haven't convinced you already to make the trek up there, then this should probably do the trick. ... See MoreSee Less

This red fox ran up to us with its tail wagging like a dog. He even responded to the name "Buddy"! Mistaken by locals for a young abandoned pup, he was taken into their home and raised by a mothering chihuahua. He would never make it in the wild on his own, and so now he lives a cushy life at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve - a not-for-profit organization that stretches across 700 acres and is home to 11 different types of animals that can be found in the north.

Many of the animals have interesting tales, and it was an incredible afternoon to view them as we did. (Especially the Lynx! We had never seen one before.) ... See MoreSee Less

They sat across from us at an exceptional family style dinner at the intimate Inn on the Lake -- a sweet young couple from Mexico who were clearly so in love with each other. When she snuck off to their room for a minute, he confided to us that he had an engagement ring in his bag. They had come to the Yukon to see the northern lights for the first time and he was ready to drop to one knee as soon as aurora appeared. It was their last night, and they hadn't seen anything yet. (He had a "Plan B", he said, but he really wanted to propose under the lights.)

We all checked a variety of apps over dinner to track the aurora forecast, which seemed to get worse as the evening went on. But Pete went out to the patio, took a quick photo, and saw a bright green glow that wasn't yet visible to the naked eye. Out to the lake went a crew armed with cameras, including this young couple in love.

Sure enough, the lights started to dance. And just off to Pete's side, Jose sweetly asked and Mayte said yes!

The aurora kept up their show and Pete became an impromptu engagement photographer. The pair was too excited to stay still enough to get the perfect shot, but in the end, does that really matter? Their emotions became a part of the story that they will remember forever. (And we will too as lucky spectators of their ❤️) ... See MoreSee Less